Are Sour Patch Kids Vegan?

Most of us have grown up chewing on them and they’re just as popular even today. They are our ever-favorite sour patch kids – the sour-flavored chewy candy that’s extremely popular in the US, UK, France, and other countries too.

If you’ve recently turned vegan, then you must be having several such questions like are your favorite Licorice Candies, Starburst Candies and Sour Patch Candies safe to eat? So now, we’re here to help you find an answer about what you’re munching on when the next time your tongue craves for their sour taste or are sour patch kids vegan?

Sour Patch Kids – Vegan or Not?

About Sour Patch Kids Candies – Sour Patch Kids, also known as Very Bad Kids in France, are soft candies with inverted sugar and sour sugar coating on it. They are chewy candies that you can munch at any time of the day. They come in different colors and flavors like Redberry, Orange, Lime, and many more.

Is Sour Patch Kids Vegan?

?

Yes! The original version of Sour Patch Kidsare vegan along with some flavorsof it as per the ingredients gathered below. But, they contain Sugar and Artificial colors which might be considered non-vegan by some vegans.

Sour Patch Kids Ingredients

To help determine a concrete answer to the common doubt doing the rounds on social media whether or not are sour patch kids vegan, here’s a quick look at its ingredient list.

The original sour
patch kids contain the following:

Sugar

Invert sugar

Cane syrup

Modified corn starch

Tartaric acid (organic acid derived from fruits)

Citric acid

Natural and artificial flavors

Colorings: Yellow 6, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Blue 1

As is clear from the above, the soft and chewy candy, the original sour patch kids, doesn’t contain anything that’s non-vegan. This means that it isn’t prepared from any animal products or animal-derived ingredient. Although, here are some ingredients that creates doubt on sour patch kids vegan status for many vegans as they are considered as non vegan by many.

Sugar – Did you know that sugar isn’t always categorically termed a vegan substance? Well, this is because plain sugar uses cattle’s charred bones in the process of being refined and reaching our homes as refined sugar. Since sugar is a vital component of sour patch kids, it means that the latter could not really be given a go-ahead as far as vegan interests are concerned.

Besides that, all these colors undergo animal testing as well, primarily on mice and rats, but on dogs too. This means that these artificial colors used in sour patch kids aren’t cruelty-free and therefore for some vegans, sour patch kids can be non-vegan too.

What Are Flavors of Sour Patch Made Of?

After getting the basic ingredients out of the way, let’s look at the process of preparation of these chewy candies. That would further give us an idea on “does sour patch have gelatin”?

Sour patch kids candies get their sticky and gooey texture (much loved by kids and adults alike) from being bonded together using corn starch and corn syrup. This is unlike its other counterparts in the market – candies that use gelatin as bonding substance. Gelatin is a by-product of certain animal products and animal-derived ingredients and is therefore not fit for vegan consumption.

What Flavors of Sour Patch Kids are Vegan?

As mentioned above, the original version of this beloved kids’ candy seems to be vegan, looking at its list of ingredients (detailed earlier in this post) as well as its preparation process using corn starch in place of gelatin.

However, certain doubt still lingers in the minds of some vegans about the other flavors, the several variations of sour patch kids available in the market. Are they vegan and safe for snacking too? Are sour patch halal? Find out in the below section.

First, a quick look at the different vegan and non-vegan varieties of sour patch kids that are sold in various markets:

Vegan Flavors

Non-Vegan Flavors

Original Sour Patch Kids

Sour Patch Kids Tropical

Sour Patch Kids Mango

Sour Patch Kids Watermelon

Sour Patch Kids Berries

Sour Patch Kids Extreme (non-vegan ingredient: lactic acid)

Sour Patch Kids Xploderz (also includes lactic acid)

Besides that, another potential concern that arises in the interest of the vegan market for this highly popular soft and chewy sour candy is that it contains two other ingredients which may not necessarily be termed vegan.

Are Sour Patch Kids Halal? – As per the company’s announcements, the original Sour patch Candies and the other vegan flavors of sour patch kids do not contain animal-derived products or alcohol in it.

What Makes Sour Patch Kids Sour? – The sugar coating over the sour patch kids are made from tartaric acid and citric acid, when both of these acid merges with your saliva on your tongue, the sour taste is derived.

Other Vegan Gummies to Enjoy

In case you love
gooey, sticky gummies but dare to eat them after you’ve turned vegan for fear
of their gelatin composition, here are some non-gelatin containing vegan treats
for your sweet or sour tooth:

Dandies Vegan Marshmallows

JELL-O Instant Pudding (few flavors)

Sour Patch Kids (original and sour patch watermelon vegan)

Simply Delish Jel Dessert

Skittles

Conclusion

So, the sour candies market still caters to vegans, after all. As far as your query that ‘are sour patch kids vegan’ is concerned, at least our beloved original we so fondly relish still remains free of guilt (or gelatin) and is safe to be consumed by vegans. So go ahead and snack up! This can be your handy snack while you go for a travel along with the other healthy travel snacks.

Why Vegans First?

My life literally revolves around optimumal health and sustainable living by being a devotional vegan. My mission is to create a community of like minded vegans to go forth in creating a better and brighter world for humans, animals and the planet.

Just like Gandhi once said:

“The greatness of a nation and it’s moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” – Gandhi